JD Group paid its boss £6m after UK government support of £100m

The boss of JD Group, Peter Cowgill, has been handed almost £6 million (€7 million) in bonuses since February last year despite the company accepting more than £100 million in UK government support.

The owner of JD Sports and Millets accepted £86.1 million in UK furlough payments for staff and an estimated £38 million in business rates relief last year.

Mr Cowgill voluntarily took a 75 per cent cut in his basic pay – which fell to £700,000 – for several months during the pandemic. His annual bonus was also reduced from £1.7 million to £1.3 million.

However, the retail veteran banked £3 million during the year from a special bonus, half of which was paid in February 2020; a further £1.5 million, which had originally been due for payment in October 2020, was paid in January this year.

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It is understood that a further £1.5 million was paid just a month later, in February this year.

JD finished its financial year with almost £800 million in the bank, as its profits were shored up by bumper lockdown demand for trainers and hoodies. Its profits topped £420 million before one-off costs from sales that were up slightly over the year at £6.2 billion.

Support accepted

JD said in a statement: “Government support was accepted in locations where it was offered, with the primary purpose of retaining the thousands of retail jobs which were at risk during the period of prolonged store closure. This government support fulfilled its purpose as the group has not made redundancies on a large scale and the vast majority of jobs have been retained.

“Against this background, the board and remuneration committee decided it is appropriate to reinstate the payment of dividends while also returning to more normal levels of pay for executive and senior team members. In comparison with previous years, the executive chairman has received a reduced bonus level this year.” – Guardian service